Auckland win showdown with Canterbury

Auckland have beaten Canterbury by six wickets in a close match in the Provincial A tournament.

Needing 166 for victory Auckland stayed calm to complete the chase with three balls to spare and gain bragging rights over their red and black rivals.

Canterbury were put in by Auckland and looked unconvincing at the crease for the majority of the innings.

Four of their top five batsmen were out in the teens and nobody looked like they were going to go on to a decent score.

It took until the middle and lower-order for anyone to do something noteworthy. Matt McEwan (28) and Carl Frauenstein (30*) gave Canterbury a much better total than anyone had expected with some powerful hitting at the end of the innings.

At the end of 20 overs Canterbury were eight wickets down with 165 on the board.

Mitchell McClenaghan and Bhupinder Singh took three wickets a piece in a tight bowling display from Auckland. In reply Auckland got off to a good start thanks to openers Tim McIntosh and Neal Parlane.

The pair put on 51 for the first wicket before Parlane was out for 30 from just 14 balls. McIntosh went on and top scored for his team with 46 from 36.

Auckland continued to make their way towards the target, not taking too many risks and only losing the occasional wicket along the way.

It was a ploy that proved successful as Dane Hakaraia (35) led his team to victory after 19.3 overs with six wickets in hand.